Ring! Are you Called to Work?
I am not called to be a computer programmer.
There are, however, a lot of jobs out there to which people say they have been, “called”, the most common being of the religious field. Others include various charities or service organizations, as well as teaching, instructing, and musical fields.
This is a curious idea in my head, to be “called” to a profession instead of simply picking it.
First in my mind is an analysis of the term itself — called. Clearly, nobody picked up a phone, rang up these people, and told them what to do. They did not receive a letter in the mail dictating their lives, nor a whack on the head from a passing stranger. Many religious figures would no doubt describe “divine intervention” or communication of some form, a miracle, sign, or transmission from on high, as it were. That covers the clergy, but what about teachers and people working for service organizations? Did they receive a memo from God? I suspect many would say their “heart” moved them to do what they do. I don’t know about you, but talking organs freak me the hell out.
Secondly, say they receive one of these ‘calls’ by whatever means they get — why believe it? Why listen to some sort of mental blip that says, “Go be a preacher!”? Unless you had one of those visions where the sky breaks open, a light shines down, and doves alight on your shoulders with olive branches and manage not to soil your Sunday best, why would you not just think to yourself, “Goodness, what a weird thought.”? Are you in the habit of listening and acting upon every thought that enters your mind? I’d be in big trouble if I did.
Or say you pass by a poster in the hallway describing a charitable organization’s efforts somewhere in famine-ravaged Africa and suddenly feel a tug on the ol’ heartstrings to join up — why act on it? Why not just say, “Wow, I’m a human being, that really hits me. Hrm. I wonder what’s for supper?” And yet there are hundreds if not thousands of people who, each year, join such efforts on exactly such whims.
I knew quite a few people like this during my time a Luther College. Most of
them
were a
little strange to
start with,
so it wasn’t
so much of a stretchMost of them were a little strange to start with, so it wasn’t so much of a stretch to think of them traipsing off into the wilderness and fighting malaria with a pointy stick. They were often the sort of people that you’d imagine finding in burlap, sucking the cream from grasshoppers, and generally living it up in a small gully on the edge of a rainforest. But a good deal of them were perfectly normal folks who turned a very sharp corner at some point in their lives and decided on an alternate path.
It does seem that most of the things one can be “called” into as a profession (or a way of life) are service oriented and low-paying. Very few preachers pull down the big bucks, and unless you’re a televangelist with a schmoozey attitude, the white collar and Corvettes don’t match. You don’t hear of Peace Corps volunteers with mansions — it just doesn’t happen. Teachers are some of the worst shat on in this country and yet they continue to regularly bend over for the job.
So, sometimes I wonder if people don’t make up this whole, “calling” thing to justify why they are going to spend their lives doing hard work, getting low pay, and enduring crappy working conditions. It’s like they’re saying to their parents, “Well, Mom and Dad, I would be a surgeon and make millions, but I’ve been called. I hope you understand.” The parents, not to dare go against something as sacred as a call, just nod their heads and resign themselves to a mac’n'cheese child.
Many denominations of the church use calling as a way to transfer preachers from one place to another. “Reverend Willaby has been called to St. Louis.” Bullshit. Billy-Bob has gotten a job offer for a bigger and better church to preach at than Dinkport, MO, and is moving there because he likes the area and the pay better. But it seems almost sacreligious to say a minister wants to get — shock, horror — PAID well. For shame — you’re doing God’s work! So it’s almost like a conspiracy: “Don’t say you’re going for the money, just say you were called there — they can’t say anything to that!” I’m sure sometimes it’s legitimate, but a lot of the times, it looks like a racket.
So…what do you think? Are you called to your profession, or do you simply do it because that’s what you went to school for and it pays ok? If you feel you’re called, why? What event was it that inspired you to choose this path and not something else? Do you question the senility of your decision? If you don’t feel you’re called, would you change if you got a call, or would you just lay off the whacky weed?
The phone’s ringing, but is it a call or just a telemarketer?
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